Cash for Clunkers, a Clunker, Says a Liberal Democrat

Ouch, keep in mind that Congressman blowing the whistle on problems with the supposedly “wildly successful” cash for clunkers isn’t a Republican or even Blue Dog Democrat… He’s a liberal Democrat:

The federal government has only reimbursed auto dealers for 2 percent of the claims they’ve submitted through the popular “cash for clunkers” program, a Pennsylvania congressman said, calling on the Obama administration to help speed up the process.

Rep. Joe Sestak, D-Pa., called for “immediate action” to address the problem in a statement Sunday, after writing a letter to President Obama Saturday expressing his concerns.

In the letter, Sestak said only 2 percent of claims have been paid and that four of every five applications have been “rejected for minor oversight.”

In recent days, auto dealers across the country have been complaining that the reimbursement payments are slow to process. And they said some of their applications were being rejected because of apparent procedural issues. The statistics Sestak cited suggest those complaints are not based on isolated incidents.

It shouldn’t surprise anyone that the Cash for Clunkers program has paid off on just on 2% of the claims submitted by dealers, while 4 out 5 of those applications have been rejected for bureaucratic nonsense. As the Wall Street Journal noted the media has played up the “success” of the program while ignoring the problems including confusing rules, complicated paperwork, and a dysfunctional Web site.

I know this probably a cheap shot, but what the hell? If the Federal Government can’t run a program like Cash for Clunkers efficiently what makes anyone think they could administer health care efficiently?